NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract Number DJJ09-C-1916 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Justice. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2011). Budgeting for Immigration Enforcement: A Path to Better Performance. Committee on Estimating Costs of Immigration Enforcement in the Department of Justice. S. Redburn, P. Reuter, and M. Majmundar, Eds. Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIESAdvisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Border enforcement to control illegal immigration has been a prominent U.S. public policy issue for 20 years. Over those two decades there has been a huge increase in the federal resources devoted to deterring, apprehending, and punishing illegal immigrants, predominantly at the border with Mexico. Most of the increased resources in recent years have gone to agencies in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is often seen as playing catch-up in handling the numerous detainees apprehended by DHS.

This panel was formed in response to a congressional concern about how well DOJ was preparing its congressional requests for border enforcement resources. Budgeting is difficult under most circumstances, given that it is about projecting needs 18 to 24 months in advance. It is made even more complex when the agency has to anticipate not only the effects of actions by another agency in the future, but also the influence of changing labor market conditions in Mexico and the United States, which are important drivers of the number of immigrants trying to enter this country illegally. This report aims to provide a better understanding of the context in which budget decisions are made for DOJ’s immigration enforcement functions and how that shapes the budgeting challenge.

On behalf of the committee, I thank the many individuals and organizations who assisted us in our work and without whom this study could not have been completed. The committee relied heavily on two key staff members: Steve Redburn both provided excellent guidance in our dealing

with agencies and contributed a great deal to drafting and redrafting the text. Malay Majmundar was responsible for much of the original research and legal analysis that was critical to our work, as well as drafting two chapters of the report. We also thank Danielle Johnson for her excellent management of our meetings, mailings, and all other administrative tasks. Alan B. Rhinesmith, a former deputy associate director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a former senior policy adviser to the Congressional Oversight Panel of Congress, was commissioned to write a paper on recent experience in budgeting that contributed significantly to Chapter 5. We also thank several other researchers for their commissioned contributions to the writing, data analysis, and case studies: Adam Boessen, in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society at the University of California, Irvine; Micah Gell-Redman, in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego; Annie Miller, in the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado; and Doralina Skidmore and Grant Wille, at the James E. Rodgers College of Law at the University of Arizona. We are grateful for the assistance of Professor Gabriel (Jack) Chin of the University of Arizona College of Law in connection with our field work in the Tucson area.

Others who provided valuable assistance to the committee at various stages of its work include Penny Fleming, Financial Liaison Office, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; the late Judge John M. Roll, Chief U.S. District Judge, Tucson, Arizona; Jolene Lauria-Sullens, DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Controller; Karin O’Leary, Budget Director; Sennen Salapare and others on the budget staff of the DOJ, Justice Management Division; Carl Caulk, U.S. Marshals Service, DOJ; Jim Boden and staff, OMB; Steve Mertens and staff, OMB; Juan Osuna, DOJ; Michael Hoefer and John Simanski, Office of Immigration Statistics, DHS; and John Schultz, Office of the Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS.

Many individuals at the National Research Council (NRC) assisted the committee. We thank Kirsten Sampson Snyder, who shepherded the report through the NRC review process, Eugenia Grohman, who edited the draft report, and Yvonne Wise for processing the report through final production.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the

integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Lenni B. Benson, professor of law, New York Law School; Asa Hutchinson, senior partner, The Asa Hutchinson Law Group, PLC, Rogers, Arizona; Daniel A. Nussbaum, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California; Anne Joseph O’Connell, professor of law, Boalt Hall, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley; Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, co-director, RAND Drug Policy Research Center, senior economist, RAND Corporation, and faculty research fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research; Anne Morrison Piehl, Department of Economics and director, Program in Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, and research associate, National Bureau of Economic Research; Irene Rubin, professor emerita, Division of Public Administration and Department of Political Science, Northern Illinois University; and Mary C. Waters, M.E. Zukerman professor of sociology, Department of Sociology, Harvard University.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. Emmett Keeler of the RAND Graduate School and the University of California, Los Angeles, and John E. Rolph at the University of Southern California oversaw the review of this report. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Finally, I thank my colleagues on the committee for their enthusiasm, hard work, and collaborative spirit in writing this report.

Peter Reuter, Chair
Committee on Estimating Costs of Immigration Enforcement in the Department of Justice

Immigration enforcement is carried out by a complex legal and administrative system, operating under frequently changing legislative mandates and policy guidance, with authority and funding spread across several agencies in two executive departments and the courts. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for conducting immigration enforcement both at the border and in the United States; the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for conducting immigration removal procedures and criminal trials and for prosecuting people charged with immigration-related crimes. DOJ confronts at least five technical challenges to modeling its resource needs for immigration enforcement that are specific to the immigration enforcement system. Despite the inherent limitations, budgeting for immigration enforcement can be improved by changing the method for budgeting.

Budgeting for Immigration Enforcement addresses how to improve budgeting for the federal immigration enforcement system, specifically focusing on the parts of that system that are operated and funded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The report recommends that DOJ establish policy-level procedures to plan and coordinate policy planning and implementation to improve performance of the immigration enforcement system. The report also recommends that DOJ and DHS accelerate their design of an integrated capacity to track cases and project immigration enforcement activity. Policy makers and others who are interested in how the nation's immigration enforcement system is organized and operates also will find it useful.

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